Cassandra's Return
by paea101
Summary: This is a sequel to A Little Advice Goes A Long Way. A little story about what happens when Cassandra comes back and thanks Jake for convincing her to go and see her parents for Christmas. Jassandra!


_Woosh!_

Cassandra came stumbling through the large double doors of the Annex. She was holding on tightly to her bags and her hat. Jake could see that behind her in New York there were huge gusts of wind and snow was whirling all around her.

Jenkins and Eve turned to look at what had made papers fly all over the Annex and then hurried over to Cassandra and with great effort, they pushed the doors shut leaving the snow to drift slowly onto the marble floor and melt from the heat of the roaring fire in the large fireplace.

"Cassandra, welcome home" Jenkins gave her a bug hug and then moved to get her bags. She smiled to herself at the word 'home' but before she could say anything, Ezekiel gathered her up in a hug as well.

"Jeez Red you're freezing, but don't worry, I am here to warm you up" he stated with a cheeky wink as Cassandra just rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh please, give her a break, she just got home" Eve moved in between them and gave Cassandra a toasty warm hot chocolate that was sprinkled with marshmallows.

"Thanks, Eve" She gave the older woman a one-armed hug trying not to spill her hot chocolate. "I am so glad to be back. It was one of the worst winter storms to hit New York in the past eight years…so yeah, it wasn't the greatest weather"

Jake was sitting on the arm of the couch near the fire place, he didn't want to crowd her so he watched the interaction from afar. He couldn't figure out why she wasn't hypothermic, no matter what the weather, she always wore a dress and of course a winter storm wouldn't stop her either even though she was wearing stockings and a jacket. The wind had caused her hair to go in many different directions and he could see little snowflakes slowly melting into her clothing. Her nose and cheeks were bright pink from the cold and her teeth were chattering from the cold.

Eve was guiding her over to the couch "You need to get warmed up and then tell us everything that happened on your trip".

Cassandra stopped in front of Jake unsure of what to say. She put her hot chocolate down on the side table next to the couch. "Welcome back" he said before she could even say anything. He scooped her up in a warm hug. She smiled and hugged him back, she definitely missed him. When he let her go she looked at the others, they were sitting on the couch talking to each other about what they were going to do for New Year's Eve.

Cassandra took Jakes hand. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" He looked down at her _questioningly_. "Yeah, of course".

She led him over to one of the arches on the other side of the room and then turned to face him. "Jake, I just want to thank you again for convincing me to go and see my parents". She still had his hand in hers and she was tracing the lines of his palms as if to read his future. "I was so ready to give up on them and deal with my last Christmas by myself but I would've never forgiven myself if I didn't see them one last time. Every time something good happened while I was away, all I could think about was you. You encouraging me and supporting me to 'be the bigger person' so thank you, for everything. You don't know how much it means to me knowing that you care".

"No problem Cassie, I know how much your parents mean to you and I also know that you would've been annoyed at yourself if you _didn't_ go and see them."

She looked up at him and then something just behind his head caught her eye and she smiled. Before he knew what was happening, she placed a soft and gentle kiss on his lips. Even though it was a short kiss, he knew that he would remember it for the longest time.

When it was over, she looked up at him again. A large blush had spread over his confused face and he was struggling to find the words to ask her the right question. Cassandra's face broke out into a wide and cheerful grin and pointed just behind his head. He turned and looked up. There, hanging from the arch roof, was a bushel of holly. Jake let out an amused laugh and turned back to Cassandra.

"I think someone forgot to take that down" she replied with a wink. Before he could reply, she had turned and was walking back to the others who were sitting on the couch under a huge, soft blanket. She settled herself between Eve and Jenkins and joined in their conversation. Jake just stood there and watched her for just a few moments. He had definitely missed her and loved how her smile could absolutely light up the darkest of rooms.

"You coming or not?" he was brought out of his thoughts by Eve and he looked at the group. They were all looking at him. His eyes met Cassie's and she grinned at him, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, don't start without me". He made his way over to the rest of the group and settled down in front of the fire next to Ezekiel.

The rest of the night was filled with stories of Cassandra's trip, her family, awkward family dinners, trips to art galleries (which was Jake's favourite part) and they looked at pictures that she had taken. They made her laugh with some of the hilarious shenanigans that happened at the Annex while she was gone (most of them involving Ezekiel) and some of the new artefacts that Flynn had brought back from one of his wild adventures.

Cassandra couldn't have been happier. Although she had parents who, in their own weird way loved her, this right here was her real family.

Jenkins was right, she was home and she wouldn't have had it any other way.


End file.
